Engaging in the Recruitment Process: High school student athletes in the US are somewhat at an advantage to international students hoping t...
Engaging in the Recruitment Process: High school student athletes in the US are somewhat at an advantage to international students hoping to obtain a sport scholarship as they will likely have had some level of exposure to college and university coaches at local, regional and national competitions. Coupled with the fact that their coaches may have contacts within university programs and university scouts may be tracking their progress in the news or at competitions, engaging in the recruitment process to pursue their sport at the collegiate level can be somewhat more straightforward, and will certainly start earlier, than for an international athlete. However, every year talented international students are successful in receiving scholarships in a variety of sports at a wide range of US universities every year. The important thing to remember, whichever avenue you choose to engage in the recruitment process,
is that the earlier you start and the more time you put in, the more likely you are to achieve your goal. International student athletes have a few options available to them once they decide that they would like to be considered for a sport scholarship to study in the US: The first option is the ‘do-it-yourself’ approach, contacting university coaches directly to inform them of your interest in their program and of your talent. To get started, you may wish to follow the steps outlined below: 1) Visit the NCAA website (www.ncaa.org), or that of one of the other athletic associations mentioned above, to view both the list of universities that offer your sport at the varsity level and the eligibility rules for being considered for a sport scholarship at their member universities. Determine whether you meet the eligibility criteria and make a list of universities to consider. 2) After identifying which universities offer your sport, you should then do some research into whether or not that institution provides scholarships for athletes and what the criteria for selection are, both of which should be readily available on the athletic department’s webpage for each university. At this point, it is also very important to do some research into the qualifications and reputation of each coach as you want to ensure that you will be well-supported and receive good training within your sport during your four years at university. You may also wish to consider other factors that are important in choosing a university to help narrow down your list (see the Undergraduate Study in the US – www.educationusa.state.gov). 3) Compile a list of contact information for the coaches at each university in which you are interested. 4) Draft a sports CV that includes all of your accomplishments within your sport. Be sure to include teams played for and number of years, tournament results, championships participated in, and/or records/times/scores held. 5) Write a letter to the relevant coach at each institution that explains both your academic and athletic abilities in terms that can be identified by him or her (this is where the sport CV comes in as an easy reference tool for athletic accomplishments). 6) You may want to include a reference from a current or former coach in your correspondence with university coaches. (Make sure to provide the name and status of the coach providing the reference in your cover letter.) 7) If you are applying to a university that is a member of the NCAA, register in the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse. This is an agency that provides initial eligibility certification for prospective NCAA athletes, but is not a placement agency. It provides initial eligibility certification results to colleges and universities that request the information. 8) With luck, you should receive responses from universities within a few weeks.
Some may invite you to submit a video of you participating in your sport, and others may send a recruiter to see you participate or invite you to visit their university. 9) Receiving notice of a coach’s interest in you is a great start, but you still need to apply for admissions to the university through the same channels as other students. So you will need to register for and sit the SAT exam, as well as submit all required application materials by the deadlines set by each institution. 10) Throughout the process, keep in mind that students who are interested in pursuing sport at the varsity level in university should focus on the recruiting process towards becoming a university athlete rather than as a source for funding through a sports scholarship. Sports scholarships are often offered only late in the recruiting process. Furthermore, many universities cannot give athletic scholarships, but still boast top sports programs. This includes the Ivy League and many NCAA Division III universities. Additionally, because receiving a sport scholarship is extremely competitive, you will also want to look into other sources of funding and have fallback options for your undergraduate education,
should you not receive a scholarship from the universities you’ve selected, or choose to attend a university that cannot offer a sport scholarship. In addition to contacting universities directly, you may also wish investigate the opportunity to promote your sporting talent to university coaches via online recruitment sites (see the Additional Resources section below for some relevant links). For free or for a small fee, you can create an online profile for coaches to view that could include your sport CV and photographs and videos of you playing your sport. In his Wall Street Journal article ‘The Do-It-Yourself Athletic Scholarship’ (18 December 2008), Matthew Futterman, explains that ‘…coaches have grown more willing to scout talent on the Internet, especially since the sites don't charge them to view the profiles.’ The second option is to work with a sport scholarship agency or placement service to connect with US universities actively seeking international student athletes and offering scholarships.
These organizations will charge a fee for their assistance, but generally offer a comprehensive service that can make navigating the often complicated recruitment process clearer. Students that choose to use an agency typically view paying their fee as an investment in their expertise and university contacts and, given the guarantees of scholarship offers, the savings made by obtaining a scholarship more than makes up for the initial out-of-pocket expenditure. Additional Resources: For Do-it-Yourself Promotion www.berecruited.com www.prepchamps.com www.trupreps.com www.ActiveRecruting.com www.Collegecoaches.net www.SportsWorx.com
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